Coders: How to write complex “if” conditions by using logic
Coders: How to write complex “if” conditions by using logic, Learn the foundations of propositional logic and how you can apply them to write cleaner code.
Course Description
If you’re a self-taught software developer, you may have skipped all the mathematical mumbo jumbo and learned to code straight away. However, there are some mathematical tools, often taught in computer science courses, which can help you write nicer, cleaner code. One of them is propositional logic.
This mini-course teaches you the foundations of propositional logic in a practical way. You’ll see how this mathematical tool can be used to easily write and simplify complicated “if” conditions. This is particularly useful when validating a user’s input into a form or validating the body of an API request.
We’ll talk about:
- How to translate our natural language into logic formulas;
- How to manipulate logic formulas to make them simpler;
- How to translate logic formulas into code.
Consider the following scenario: You need to write code to validate the user’s input. The input will pass the validation if the user has provided either an email address or a phone number, but not both at the same time, and, if the user has inputted their phone number, then they must also include the country dial-in code.
This kind of long-winded condition can be a bit confusing. In this mini-course, you’ll see how propositional logic can help you easily come up with the correct code for it.
